Americans love a good deal and coupons have long helped consumers at least feel like they’re getting a bargain. Research has shown that the excitement of potentially saving money with a coupon often leads consumers to spend more overall. That appeal is evident in the numbers: In 2022, 91 percent of all Americans had used a coupon at least once.

As John Morgan, executive director of the Association for Coupons & Promotions, says, “Coupons are embedded in U.S. society. Nearly everyone—regardless of demographic, income, age or ethnicity—uses coupons. It’s a great way to save money in tough times.”

But there was a time—more than a century before you could spin a digital wheel to generate a random online coupon—when these vouchers weren’t so widespread.

Coca-Cola is widely considered to be the first company to offer coupons, distributing them for a free glass of the soda in 1887. The coupons were the brainchild of owner Asa Candler as a way to boost the profile of what was then a relatively unknown beverage.

“This innovative marketing strategy quickly piqued the public’s interest,” says Alexander Ketter, consumer expert at www.coupons.com. “Candler distributed the coupons through magazines and direct mail, successfully enticing people to try the drink.”

The gimmick, says Ketter, played a key role in establishing Coca-Cola’s market presence. By 1895, Coca-Cola was being served in every state in the country. Other companies also tried their hand at coupons. For example, C.W. Post distributed a coupon offering customers 1 cent off its Grape Nut cereal in 1895. But it was in the 20th century when coupons took off.

During the Great Depression, when the U.S. unemployment rate peaked at nearly 25 percent, coupons offered a way of potentially stretching small budgets. Companies took note and began distributing them widely through newspapers and women’s magazines.

“During this period, people were more focused on saving money and getting the most value for their purchases,” Ketter says. “Coupons provided a way for consumers to afford necessities, which, in turn, led to more stores using coupons to help prop up a struggling economy.”

The rise in supermarkets in the 1940s also helped popularize coupons. Chain supermarkets began offering them as a way to draw customers into stores, according to Mary Portzen who, under the name Mary Potter Kenyon, wrote Coupon Crazy: The Science, the Savings, and the Stories Behind America’s Extreme Obsession. “After the Depression, consumers kept up their habit of saving money through coupon clipping and an entire industry was born," she says.

By 1957, Nielsen had established a coupon clearing house, which greatly facilitated the process of redeeming coupons, making them more effective for marketers.

“Before they existed, the process of redeeming coupons was cumbersome for both retailers and manufacturers,” Ketter says. “Clearinghouses acted as intermediaries processing and validating coupons to ensure that retailers were reimbursed the correct amounts.”

The advance made it easier for companies to launch large-scale coupon campaigns since retailers could now accept coupons without facing the hassle of individual processing.

In 1974, a grocery store in Ohio scanned the first Universal Product Code (or barcode). A few years later, coupons began to use the same technology to more efficiently check information on a product and the available discount. By the mid-1970s, about 65 percent of U.S. households clipped coupons, and the number continued to increase. By 1992, 7.9 billion coupons were redeemed in America, according to Portzen.

In 2000, coupons became available online for the first time. “Initially, the security was not in place, and the coupons printed at home could be manipulated and freely duplicated by consumers,” Morgan says. Since these early versions of online coupons were susceptible to fraud, many retailers limited their use.

Eventually, groups including GS1-US, Food Marketing Institute, Grocery Manufacturers Association, and others came together to develop a new coupon barcode that was more secure for retailers and easier for consumers to use.

In 2011, Extreme Couponing premiered on TLC. The TV show featured people obsessively hunting for and clipping coupons and then filling their carts with hundreds of items. But the show angered long-time couponers because it depicted unrealistic—and sometimes even illegal—use of coupons.

“One of the first participants on the Extreme Couponing reality show used coupons in a way that screamed ‘coupon misredemption,'” Portzen says. “One of them used 34 counterfeit free 12-pack Quilted Northern toilet paper coupons. The Gelson’s store that accepted the coupons discovered this when they were denied payment for them.”

"The teen shopper’s mother had to come in and repay the store for over $400 worth of toilet paper," recounts Portzen. But, she adds, viewers never saw that on television.

The 2021 film Queenpins, based on a true story, depicted the schemes of two Arizona women who made millions through the sale of counterfeit coupons. Coupon fraud is not new. Back in August 1951, the Better Business Bureau reported that illegal cashing of coupons had reached $1 million a year. Fraudsters have since become more sophisticated, making it difficult for a person working the cash register to identify fake coupons.

Free-standing inserts, like those found in the Sunday paper, are not as popular today, although in-store paper coupons remain in use. But mostly, digital coupons reign.

“The internet has revolutionized couponing by making it more accessible and personalized for everyone,” Ketter says. “Digital coupons, which can be saved on personal devices for in-store use, or copied and applied directly through online retailer sites, have largely replaced traditional paper coupons.”